I have several knives that I would like to store for at least 10 years. I know very little about knives. I've been told I could place them in an air tight bag, like a food saver bag, but I can't find where that's an acceptable way to store to store them. I don't know if this is the proper place to ask, but can someone give me some insight on long term knife storage? Or give me a URL to visit? I don't want to display them, just put them up for my kids. Thank you in advance for any assistance!!
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Knife storage
- Thread starter pl46012
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G3
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You might want to invest in a quality airtight safe. That way they are protected from theft as well as moisture. This site has alot of choices and prices aren't bad.
http://www.nationwidesafes.com/
http://www.nationwidesafes.com/
Gollnick
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Air tight is not the way to go.
Years ago, on the old rec.knives, a man posted about having gone on extended travel for a year. Before leaving, he put his valuable collection of knives including some original Randalls and Loveless knives into one of those sealed ammunition boxes along with some of those desicant packs. When he arrived home, he found the knives hopelessly rusted.
The best solution will be to wax the knives with Ren Wax and then loosley pack them such that air can flow around them. The alternative is to put them in a dry nitrogen environment. But, that'll be expensive.
Years ago, on the old rec.knives, a man posted about having gone on extended travel for a year. Before leaving, he put his valuable collection of knives including some original Randalls and Loveless knives into one of those sealed ammunition boxes along with some of those desicant packs. When he arrived home, he found the knives hopelessly rusted.
The best solution will be to wax the knives with Ren Wax and then loosley pack them such that air can flow around them. The alternative is to put them in a dry nitrogen environment. But, that'll be expensive.
Use a protectant of some kind. A wax or oil to coat the blade. I use Tuf-Glide and their Tuf-Cloth.
Airtight *IS* the way yo go if you remove the moisture from that air. Cabelas sells silica moisture removers of different sizes. The silica changes color when they can no longer absorb moisture, and there is a window to see the silica color. Once it turns pink and cannot absorb anymore, you can put it in an oven to remove the moisture from the silica and use it again. If you put it in an airtight container, however, the silica will remove all of the moisture, and that will be that. No new air coming in, no need to check on the silica and recharge it. Just put it in, and forget it.
The different sizes correspond to different spaces. I got the small ones for my dresser drawer (and since they are not airtight, the silica can only do so much). The larger ones work on very large containers.
Between a protectant, and an airtight case with silica, I don't think you will have any problems.
Airtight *IS* the way yo go if you remove the moisture from that air. Cabelas sells silica moisture removers of different sizes. The silica changes color when they can no longer absorb moisture, and there is a window to see the silica color. Once it turns pink and cannot absorb anymore, you can put it in an oven to remove the moisture from the silica and use it again. If you put it in an airtight container, however, the silica will remove all of the moisture, and that will be that. No new air coming in, no need to check on the silica and recharge it. Just put it in, and forget it.
The different sizes correspond to different spaces. I got the small ones for my dresser drawer (and since they are not airtight, the silica can only do so much). The larger ones work on very large containers.
Between a protectant, and an airtight case with silica, I don't think you will have any problems.
G3
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Hair said:
Thats what I would have thought. I wasn't under the impression ammo boxes were even airtight at all. The ones I've seen were not.
Also, if you wax them and leave them so air can flow around them, the wax will eventually harden and flake off wouldn't it?
Cougar Allen
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Welcome to Bladeforums!
Foodsavers work pretty well but I've found that the motor loses its strength over time. I believe mine is about 3 years old and it doesn't quite get all the air out of the bag as well as it did when new. And to get a real good seal the bag needs to be as dry as possible which is IMpossible with most foods like raw meat which have water on them or blood from being cut etc. I only paid $50 for mine on ebay so its more than paid for itself over time. I think I have only used it for food but the knife idea with a dessicant is a good one. Sealing bags of cheaps is a hell of a lot better than those stupid chip clips, hah. For fish I usually just put the fillets from our catch in a ziploc full of water and squeeze all the air out. Fish is much more freezerburn sensitive than most meats. Can't have my Mahi going bad!
http://home.earthlink.net/~qwikkota/images/mahi.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~qwikkota/images/mahi.jpg